More than 3,400 people object to plans for controversial 'garden village' in green belt countryside

More than 3,400 objections have been submitted against plans to build the controversial Godley Green ‘garden village’.

Proposals to build thousands of homes on green belt land in Hyde were lodged in November, and open to public comments from the beginning of December.

The deadline for public comments on the planning application has now closed with a total of 3,503 residents having their say.

There have been a huge 3,471 objections against the proposals, compared to just 21 supporting letters.

Under the plans up to 2,150 homes would be built to the north of Mottram Old Road, as well as ‘local centres’ which would include up to 1,300 sq m of retail, 1,600 sq m of commercial uses and 1,000 sq m of local community uses.

A petition against the garden village which raises concern about the loss of the countryside and recreation space, lack of transport and education infrastructure and the impact on roads has also gained 4,400 signatures.

Signing the petition, one person said: “This is greenbelt land and once it’s gone it’s gone. We need to preserve these unique places for future generations and stop urban sprawl.

“This will also warm up the area causing further climate implications along with poorer drainage in heavy rain.”

Chiefs say the project is being developed under the principles of garden cities championed by Ebenezer Howard more than a century ago.

The scheme for the green belt land, first mooted under the original Greater Manchester Spatial Framework proposals, is progressing despite the region’s current masterplan ‘places for everyone’ yet to be approved by the Secretary of State.

Tameside council says that meeting its housing target over the next 17 years would be ‘entirely unrealistic’ without developing the land